Wednesday, June 9, 2010

No. A Thousand Times, No.

As Norman Goldman put it, the political version of the clap. But I do appreciate the reminder of how bad we had it for eight years and of how we're still reeling from the impact of compassionate conservatism...

A new ABC poll finds more Americans critical of the government response to the BP/Halliburton oil spill than to the Hurricane Katrina federal flood. During the flood, news coverage included many images such as these:





As the spill continues to wreak havoc:





I'm not implying a bias in the coverage. But people see what they will see...

Sing out, Barack!...

Two sides of Prytania by Napoleon...

You are responsible for any spills (note the logo in the upper left)...

Daily Post Card: The Colorado Spring House...

Seeing Red: Cinnabar moth, glass, and sapsucker...

12 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

I ain't missin' you at all...
since you've been gone... away

Susanna Powers said...

Dear K., thanks for posting all of these Louisiana and Gulf disaster photos. Keep in mind, that the national grass-roots uproar and frustration got MUCH stronger when the white sand beaches became threatened. I'm horrified about that myself, we love Gulf Shores, Alabama, above all. And I must say, also, that I was out of the news loop during Katrina, so it's hard for me to compare from my vantage point. In good times and bad, we appreciate your continued spotlight. best always, sp

mouse (aka kimy) said...

no shit people only see what they want to see!

the deepwater horizon explosion/spill is no doubt an ecologial catastrophe, but the poll results re government response - claptrap!

K. said...

Just so I'm certain, I'm not claiming that the Gulf spill isn't a catastrophe. But I am wondering whether images of flooded inner city neighborhoods and refugee African-Americans compared with oil slicks on a formerly pristine Gulf, intrepid white fisherman fighting back, and oil-soaked pelicans might have something to do with the comparative poll results.

As conservative a commentator as Joe Scarborough calls a comparison between Katrina and Gulf Spill "obscene".

Roy said...

Don't miss him, haven't missed him, never will miss him.

I almost expect him to show up on some Gulf beach with an entourage, saying, "Ol' Tony [Hayward, BP CEO] is doin' a helluva job, a helluva job!"

Leslie Parsley said...

Most people are incapable of looking below the surface - this includes the MSM.

Tao Dao Man said...

Simple.
Katrina victims were mostly black.
BP victims are mostly white.
Now imagine if Katrina wold have landed in Connecticut.

Distributorcap said...

i cannot look at those pictures, but i have to

thanks......

this oil spill will change us forever - in ways we havent imagined

Susanna Powers said...

Sorry, but I have to respond to Reality Zone saying "Katrina victims were mostly black.
BP victims are mostly white." Both disasters cut across all races and species for that matter. Everyone living in the Katrina hurricane/flood region was affected; everyone who ever enjoyed the gulf beaches or seafood is affected. Animals were massively killed by both disasters. What the comment reflects is the media slant, but the reality is that both disasters had no exemptions to living things. sp

K. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
K. said...

Sussah, I don't even know if the coverage was especially based; it wasn't hard to find pictures of white Katrina victims. But they didn't register with a lot of people, like the old Gary Larson cartoon where all the dog hears is "blah blah blah Ginger blah blah blah Ginger."

I've told some people until I was blue in the face that the Ninth Ward had the highest level of African-American home ownership in NOLA, and they don't hear it because they don't want to. They'll go to their graves thinking that the Ninth was a project-riddled slum and that the people there were leeches who got what they deserved, never mind that the dead were almost exclusively old and infirm people with no way of leaving the city.

I read one blog comment to the effect that the guy was still laughing over the footage of poor people trapped on the interstate. It made me ashamed to be human.

Tao Dao Man said...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100611/ts_nm/us_usa_neworleans_katrina